It was a call from his mother. Seol Jihu pressed the answer button even in his confused state.

“Mother?”

—Aigoo, Jihu!

A voice mixed with tears immediately struck his ear. Seol Jihu’s heart sank.

—You rascal, why weren’t you picking up your phone!?

“M-Mother. I’m sorry. I was just a little too busy.”

—Still! Do you have any idea how much Wooseok and I…!

“Mother, calm down. Just what happened?”

An unknown nervousness slowly crept up inside him, but Seol Jihu suppressed the feeling and asked.

Then…

—Well…

The uneasy sense of foreboding came true.

“…Come again?”

Seol Jihu’s eyes widened.

“W-What was that?”

He almost let go of his phone.

“Jinhee was…?”

It was then.

—A policeman was lying in the middle of the street.

—A gunshot echoed out from an unknown place, and…

He could even hear the news report coming from the TV he had turned on subconsciously.

The screen was saying this: Shooting in Downtown Area, Two Policemen Dead.

—Around six p.m. when crowds of people getting out of work were flocking to the streets…

—I don’t know whether the police opened fire first or if it was the gunman, but I heard one gunshot, followed by a series of shots.

—The culprit was hiding in the bushes, firing his gun…

—Miss Seol, a 23-year-old college student who was walking by the area, was hit by the gunman’s bullet in her stomach.

His mother’s crying voice, the anchor’s explanation, and the eye-witness testimonies mixed together and agitated his mind.

Seol Jihu’s mind went blank.

“Jinhee… Where’s Jinhee?”

His voice trembled. His pupils, throat, hands, and entire body shuddered.

Of all people, his younger sister had been shot.

At this point in time.

It was too much of a coincidence.

“What about Father? And you? And Hyung, and Seonhwa, and Seunghae? Where are you all?”

—We’re at Soyoung Hospital…!

“I’ll be there right away.”

Seol Jihu turned around.

He was no longer even thinking about the text messages.

Confirming Seol Jinhee’s health became his top priority.

And so,...